A Closer Look

TeddySanFran got a letter from NARAL that I thought was worth sharing:

Dear (TeddySanFran),

Thank you for contacting us about the Senate race in Connecticut.

As you know, NARAL Pro-Choice America has endorsed Sen. Lieberman in that race. As a nonpartisan organization, we support pro-choice elected officials, regardless of party affiliation. Therefore, our endorsement stands, regardless of Sen. Lieberman’s party registration. We responded similarly when pro-choice Sen. Jim Jeffords left the Republican Party to become an Independent.

We recognize that some of our members are avid party activists as well as pro-choice stalwarts, and understand that not everyone will agree with each of our endorsement decisions. However, we hope you will continue to stand with us. Our only chance of defending a woman’s right to choose is by focusing our energies on our real opponents: George Bush and his anti-choice congressional allies.

Thank you again for getting in touch. Please feel free to do so at any time with additional questions or comments.

Well, I had questions and comments, so I gave them a call at (202)530-4179, which is the number that Elizabeth Shipp, political director of NARAL, gave to Teddy in her note.

And I was told, yes indeed, they are continuing to endorse Joe Lieberman, loser of the Democratic primary. When I asked why, the fellow with whom I was speaking didn’t really have an answer, and didn’t feel comfortable talking with me further about that particular question. When I asked if they had spoken as yet with Ned Lamont’s campaign to ascertain whether a switch in endorsement might be the better move, considering Ned kicked Joe’s butt in the primary and all, I was told that he didn’t know the answer to that question. When I asked if they were getting a few phone calls on this latest contact on the CT Senate race, he told me that they were.

You, too, can contact NARAL if you would like, and ask why it is that they continue to endorse Joe Lieberman, whether they plan on ever contacting the Lamont campaign to even speak with a fully pro-choice candidate, instead of a pseudo-pro-choice-but-voting-for-Alito-cloture-short-ride-kinda-guy like Lieberman, and just what they are thinking with this myopic decision-making in general. Here is their contact information: Main Number: 202.973.3000;Main Fax: 202.973.3096;Shipp’s Number:(202)530-4179.

I think they are interested in hearing lots of opinions on this — clearly, they just aren’t interested in actually taking them into consideration. Hmmm…kind of like Joe Lieberman was interested in participating in the CT Democratic primary, he just didn’t care what the voters thought of him since he’s decided to completely disregard the primary results and keep on whining.

And according to Tom Curry on MSNBC today, the Republican neocon money base is going to make certain that Lieberman is well-funded for all that whining. Tim Tagaris has the Lamont campaign response to GOP money for CFL. Chris Bowers and Matt Stoller have more on the Lieberman support base. (Oh, and according to Matt, the Beltway Bubble folks think that progressive bloggers are scary. News flash: serial killers are scary. Progressive bloggers are your constituents. Learn the difference.)

Crooks and Liars has great video up of Ned Lamont’s appearance on Face the Nation yesterday. If you missed the interview, watch this — Ned was great. But I’m not quite sure what to make of this article on Hadassah Lieberman, and her odd need to order Joe around in front of voters. (If Mr. ReddHedd tried to do something like that to me in public, we’d have some swift and cranky words about not treating me like some sort of imbecile — whether it was in public or not.)

PS — Do you know if your Senator supports Ned Lamont? If you have Democratic Senators and they haven’t taken a public position as yet, isn’t it time they did? Bob Geiger has provided a handy fill-in-the-blank press release for wavering Senators on vacation. Call yours now and tell them to support Ned — publicly! And since it is Congressional recess time, and lots of them are home campaigning at county fairs and senior centers and the like — why not call a local office, get scheduling information and ask them in person. I’m sure they’d love to hear directly from a constituent.

Christy Hardin Smith

Christy is a "recovering" attorney, who earned her undergraduate degree at Smith College, in American Studies and Government, concentrating in American Foreign Policy. She then went on to graduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania in the field of political science and international relations/security studies, before attending law school at the College of Law at West Virginia University, where she was Associate Editor of the Law Review. Christy was a partner in her own firm for several years, where she practiced in a number of areas including criminal defense, child abuse and neglect representation, domestic law, civil litigation, and she was an attorney for a small municipality, before switching hats to become a state prosecutor. Christy has extensive trial experience, and has worked for years both in and out of the court system to improve the lives of at risk children.